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AN ADDRESS 



HISTORY OF THE BUILDINGS 



UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 




Kemp P. Battle, LL 


• D, 




President of the University, 




i 


rpii^/crpri on UnivErsity Day, 


iBBa, 




IN (t E R R A R D H A L L . 




GREENSBORO : 


i 


Thi>mas. Reece & Co., Printers, 


1 


1883. 


! 



AN ADDRESS 



ON THE 



■■history of tbe Buildings of the University 

OF NORTH CAROLINA, 

By KEMP P. BATTLE. LL. D., 

Delivered on University Daj-, 1883, in Gerrard Hall. 



I propose to-day to give a brief 
account of each of the buildings 
of the University. 

This anniversary day commem- 
orates the laying of the corner j 
stone of the Old East Building, on 
the I2th of October, 1793. I have 
already recounted at length the 
celebration of that momentous 
event, when Wm. Richardson 
Davie, in stately dignity, arrayed 
in his Grand Master's Regalia, 
with his silver trowel in the hand 
which had wielded the warrior's 
sword, surrounded by Alfred 
Moore W. H. Hill, Treasurer 
John Haywood, Alexander 
Mebane, John Williams, Thomas 
Blount, Frederick Hargett, 
and other eminent men of that 
day, including the generous 
donors of our land, Benjamin 
Vergain, Colonel John Hogan, 
Matthew McCauley, Christopher 
Barbee, Alexander Piper, James 
Craig, Edward Jones, John Daniel, 
Mark Morgan and Hardy Morgan, 



gave tangible form to the institu- 
tion, for which he had labored 
with such persistent energy and 
wisdom, while Dr. Samuel E. Mc- 
Corkle invoked the blessings of 
Heaven on the enterprise. The 
building was of humble size, only 
two stories high, with 16 rooms, 
designed for the occupancy of 
four students each, but it sheltered 
many able young men struggling 
hard and struggling successfully 
for the inestimable benefits of 
disciplined minds, — such men as 
Judge Archibald Murphy, and 
Governor JohnBranch and Francis 
L. Dancy, John D. Hawkins, Wm. 
Hardy Murfree, Judge John Cam- 
eron, Judge James Martin, Judge 
John R. Donnell, Gavin Hogg 
and Chancellor Williams of 
Tennessee, of the earlier students, 
not to mention the names of 
great men who inhabited it in 
succeeding years. 

The Old East was intended 
only as the South wing of a 



History of the Buildings of the 



grander structure looking to the 

East, to front a wide avenue, 

nearly a mile long, leading 

through the forests eastwardly to 

the conspicuous eminence of 

which Gen. Davie speaks: " This 

peak," he says, " is called Point 

Prospect. The flat country spreads 

out below like the ocean, giving 

an immense hemisphere, in which 

the eye seems to be lost in the 

extent of space." The name has 

by the mutation of time become 

singularly inappropriate. The 

growth of trees and brushwood 

has shut out the " prospect" and 

the irreverent successors of Davie, 

not being able to see the " Point," 

have with tar-heel obstinacy and 

tar-heel appropriateness changed 

it into " Piney." 

It will doubtless interest you to 

hear a few sentences in Davie's | occasion." 

own language, describing the 
laying of this corner stone. He 
says : " A large number of the 
brethren of the Masonic Order 
from Hillsboro, Chatham, Gran- 
ville and Warren attended at the 
ceremony of placing the corner 
stone; and the procession for this 
purpose moved from *Mr. Patter- 
son's at 12 o'clock, in the follow- 
ing order : The Masonic brethren 
in their usual order of procession; 
the commissioners; the Trustees, 
not commissioners; the Hon. 



*NoTE. — Mr. Patterson was the archi- 
tect. His temporary dwelhng was on 
Cameron Avenue East. 



Judge Mackay and other public 
officers; then followed the gentle- 
men of the vicinity. On approach- 
ing the south end of the building 
the masons opened to the right 
and left and the commissioners, 
&c., passed through and took 
their places. The Masonic pro- 
cession then moved on around 
the foundation of the building 
and then halted with their usual 
ceremonies, opposite the South- 
east corner, where Wm. Richard- 
son Davie, Grand Master of the 
Fraternity, &c., in this State, 
assisted by two Masters of Lodges 
and four other officers, laid the 
corner stone, enclosing a plate to 
commemorate the transaction." 

" The Rev. Dr. McCorckle then 
addressed the Trustees in an 
excellent discourse suited to the 
I give only a few 
sentences. He commenced by 
saying: " It is our duty to ac- 
knowledge that sacred scriptural 
truth, "Except the Lord build 
the house, they labor in vain who 
build it; except the Lord watcheth 
the city, the watchman walketh 
but in vain." He then contended 
that " the advancement of learn- 
ing and science is one great 
means of ensuring the happiness 
of mankind." ■* * " "Liberty 
and law call for general knowl- 
edge in the people and extensive 
knowledge in the matters of 
State; and these demand public 
places of education." "" * * 



University of North Carolina. 



*' How can glory or wealth be 
procured and preserved without 
liberty and laws? " * * * 
" Knowledge is wealth, it is glory, 
whether among philosophers, 
ministers of State or religion, 
or among the great mass of the 
people. Britons glory in the 
name of a Newton and honor 
him with a place among the 
sepulchres of their kings. Amer- 
icans glory in the name of a 
Franklin, and every nation boasts 
of her great men, who has them. 
Savages cannot have, rather can- 
not educate them, though many a 
Newton has been born and buried 
among them." * * * "Knowl- 
edge is liberty and law. When 
the clouds of ignorance are dis- 
pelled by the radiance of knowl- 
edge, power trembles, but the 
authority of the laws remain 
inviolable." * - * "And how 
this knowledge, productive of so 
many advantages to mankind, 
can be acquired without public 
places of education, I know not." 
Dr. McCorckle concludes as 
follows: "The seat of the Uni- 
versity was sought for, and the 
public eye selected Chapel Hill, 
a lovely situation, in the centre 
of the State, at a convenient \ 
distance from the capitol, in a 
healthy and fertile neighborhood. 
May this hill be for religion, as the 
ancient hill of Zion ; and for 
literature and the muses may it 
surpass the ancient Parnassus. 



We this day enjoy the pleasure of 
seeing the corner-stone of the 
University, its foundation, its 
material and the architect for the 
building, and before long we will 
see its stately walls and spires 
ascending to their summit. Ere 
long we hope to see it adorned 
with an elegant village, adorned 
with all the necessaries and con- 
veniences of civilized society." 

" The discourse," says Davie, 
" was followed by a short and 
animated prayer, closed with the 
united Amen of an immense 
concourse of people." 

The hopes thus expressed so 
earnestly by Dr. McCorckle, we 
on this day, ninety years from 
the delivery of his noble discourse, 
fully realize. We see around us 
eight stately buildings, from 
which have issued five thousand 
students, in long procession, 
dispersing over this broad South- 
ern land to take their places 
among its strongest and wisest 
and best leaders, in peace and in 
war. The great institution thus 
inaugurated has supplied with 
mental nourishment our fathers 
and grand-fathers, sheds its lus- 
trous influence on us to-day, and 
will be an educational luminary 
to all the ages which are to follow. 

The Old East was designed to 
be no ephemeral structure. The 
foundation is a stone wall three 
feet thick. The mortar is of two 
measures of lime to one of sand. 



History of the Buildings of the 



The sleepers are 3 by 10 inches 
and are only 14 inches apart. 
The timbers are of the best heart, 
the bricks carefully made on the 
University grounds and burnt 
hard as the imperishable rocks. 
The lime was burnt likewise on our 
own land from shells brought by 
boat from Wilmington to Fayette- 
ville and thence hauled by wagon. 
Among the donations of this 
period I find 50 bushels of shells 
by Richard Bennehan, grand- 
father, as the royal charters say, 
" of our well-beloved cousin and 
trusted counsellor," Paul C. Cam- 
eron. 

" OLD WEST " — extensions. 

The Old East continued in its 
primitive condition until 1824, 
when its roof was adorned by 
another story nearer to the skies. 
At the same time the Old West 
was built of a corresponding size. 
In 1848 the length of both was 
extended towards the north so 
as to admit new Society Halls 
and Libraries. I remember well 
the ceremonies of the inaugura- 
tion of the new Hall, of which I 
was a member. I violate no 
confidence in describing them, 
because by general consent the 
seal of secrecy was removed. 
The Professor of Rhetoric, a 
graduate of the class of 1818, still 
surviving, the venerable Bishop 
Green, of the Episcopal diocese 
of Mississippi, a classmate of Pres- 
ident Polk, of Rev. Dr. Mor- 



rison, now living, the first Presi- 
dent of Davidson College, and of 
our good old friend, Gen. Mallett, 
of New York, opened the exercises 
with prayer. A young lawyer of 
the class of 1841, now regarded 
as one of the most cultured 
members of that profession our 
State has produced, who. notwith- 
standing he has attained the hon- 
or of being the second law ofificer 
of a country of 50,000,000 peo- 
ple, has not lost a particle of his 
early love for the University, 
Gen. Phillips, delivered an ad- 
dress, which for appropriateness 
and literary ability, I have never 
heard surpassed and seldom 
equalled. The first President of 
the Society in 1795 was still living, 
the venerable James Mebane, 
who had occupied the high office 
of Speaker of the Senate. His 
father, Alexander Mebane, one 
of the early members of Congress 
under the constitution of 1789, 
had been one of our early Trus- 
tees, was one of the committee 
who selected the site of the 
University and assisted in laying 
the corner stone. As James 
Mebane had a distinguished father, 
so he has a distinguished son, 
likewise Speaker of the Senate, 
one of the best of men, Giles Me- 
bane, of Caswell. I had the 
eminent honor of sitting by the 
side of this noble father of the 
Dialectic Society, and presiding 
jointly with him over its deliber- 



University of North Carolina. 



5 



ations. I wish that I could 
reproduce the words of wisdom 
which fell from his lips on that 
night. The oil portrait over the 
President's chair in the Dialectic 
Hall is a perfectly faithful image 
of the President of 1795. He 
was of stately figure, tall and 
ponderous. His bearing was like 
Washington's,grave and dignified, 
always courteous, but repelling 
familiarity. He was seated on 
an elevated platform. In front 
were officers of the Society. I 
recall Thomas Settle, the Vice- 
President, who showed then the 
powers which have made him so 
eminent since, once a Judge of 
the Supreme Court of North 
Carolina, now Judge of the Dis- 
trict Court of the United States 
for Florida. The Secretary was 
Washington C. Kerr, the State 
Geologist, one of the most emi- 
nent scientific men this University 
or the State has produced. The 
President of the Society, a marked 
contrast to the President of 1795, 
sat on the same platform, on his 
right. While the old President's 
weight was near 230, the new 
balanced about 100 pounds. He 
was thin even to cadaverousness. 
He was conspicuous as one of the 
smallest boys in college. What- 
ever dignity he had was borrowed 
for the occasion. He was a hard 
student, but jokes and laughter 
were more natural to him in 
those days than severity or even 
gravity of demeanor. 



Having thus presided over the 
Dilectic Society, jointly with the 
first President, I feel that I have 
a kind of Apostolic succession in 
that body. 

Having finished the story of 
the "Did East and West buildings, 
I return to my starting point. 
president's house — steward's 

HALL. 
The lots of the village of 
Chapel Hill were sold on the same 
1 2th of October, 1793, the price 
for all, about $3,000, being consid- 
ered highly satisfactory. It was 
pressingly necessary to provide a 
residence for the President, or 
presiding Professor, and also a 
Steward's Hall, wherein the hun- 
gry students of the period might 
turn hog and homony, beef and 
potatoes and the juicy " collards" 
into muscle and bones and brains 
and nerves. The President's 
Mansion is the house on the 
Avenue west of the New West 
Building, which we are now get- 
ting ready for the occupancy of 
our Professor of Physics and 
any company which he may bring 
with him from Bonny Maryland. 
In that house were sheltered 
David Ker and Joseph Caldwell 
and Dr. Chapman, then it passed 
into the possession of Dr. Elisha 
Mitchell, who fell a martyr to his 
love of scientific accuracy on the 
loftiest summit of the Black 
Mountains. President Caldwell 
prefered to rest under his own 



History of the Buildings of the 



vine and fig tree, the present resi- 
dence of Prof. Hooper, which was 
purchased by the University after 
Caldwell's death. The old Presi- 
dent's house contained in the 
small room at the head of the 
stairs, the library of the institution. 
The Steward's Hall was situate 
nearly opposite the New East 
Building in the centre of Cameron 
Avenue. It was there that most 
of the students for many years 
boarded at Commons, paying for 
the first year $30, or $3 per 
month, for the next four years $40 
per year or $4 per month, in 1800 
rising to $57 per year, in 1805 to 
$60, in 1 8 14, ander the inflated war 
prices to $66.50, in 1818 to $95, or 
$9.50 per month, in 1839 to $y6, 
when the system was abandoned 
and every man made his own con- 
tracts for the supplies of life. It 
was in this building that the 
" Balls" of the old days were 
given, at which tradition hath it, 
venerable Trustees and Faculty, 
even the great President himself, 
together with their pupils, with 
hair powdered and plaited into 
"pigtails", and legs encased in 
tight stockings and knees re- 
splendent with buckles, mingled 
in the mazy dance with the 
beauteous damsels of the day, 
whose brilliant dresses and an- 
gelic beauty far be it from me to 
describe. I must for that purpose 
call into my service the scientific 
pens of my unmarried professors. 



glowing with electric energy and 
chemical forces, or of Dr. Man- 
ning's students, so well qualified 
by researches into the ancient 
laws, to give information on such 
antiquarian matters. 

At the Commencement of 1881 
we had a most eloquent and in- 
structive address to the students 
by an excellent specimen of the 
old school, an octogenarian. Gen. 
Mallett, of New York, lately 
called to his final home. I intro- 
duced him as having received his 
diploma 63 years before that day, 
and stated that for 70 years he 
had never taken a glass of ardent 
spirits, and tJicrefore that he had 
still the inestimable blessings of 
nie2is Sana in cor pore sano, and that 
other still greater blessing, mens 
sibi conscia recti. In his auto- 
biography, printed only for his 
relatives — a copy being given our 
Historical Society at the urgent 
request of Mrs. Spencer, we find 
an account of the Ball given in 
compliment to his class, when 
graduating. I must extract a 
description of his dress : 

"The style of costume," says 
Gen. Mallett, "and even the 
manners of the present generation 
are not in my opinion an improve- 
ment on a half century ago. The 
managers would not admit a 
gentleman into a ball-room with 
boots, or even a frock coat; and 
to dance without gloves was 
simply vulgar. At Commence- 



University of North Carolina. 



ment ball, (when I graduated, 
i8i8,) my coat was broadcloth of 
sea-green color, high velvet collar 
to match, swallow-tail, pockets 
outside with lapels, and large 
silver-plated buttons; white satin 
damask vest, showing the edge of 
a blue undervest; a wide opening 
for bosom ruffles, and no shirt 
collar. The neck was dressed 
with a layer of four or five three- 
cornered cravats, artistically laid, 
and surmounted with a cambric 
stock, pleated and buckled behind. 
My pantaloons were white 
canton crape, lined with pink 
muslin, and showed a peach- 
blossom tint. They were rather 
short, in order to display flesh 
colored silk stockings, and this 
exposure was increased by very 
low cut pumps with shiny buckles. 
My hair was very black, very 



Chapel of the Church of England, 
from which the place took its 
name, originally New Hope 
Chapel, the place being likewise 
New Hope Chapel Hill, had gone 
to decay. A building under the 
control of the Trustees must be 
erected. When it was barely 
above the ground the treasury 
ran low; when the strong box 
was tapped it gave a hollow 
sound. An old bachelor, one of 
that class, which having no im- 
mediate claims on its bounty, 
sometimes redeems by beneficence 
to public objects their failures in 
social duty, came to their relief 
His name was Thomas Person. 
He had been an ardent lover of 
liberty, had sympathized with the 
Regulators in their abortive effort 
to shake off colonial oppressors, 
and had suffered from the ravages 



long and queued. I should be j of Tryon's army. He was promi- 
nent in resisting the exactions of 
the British Government, which led 
to the war of Independence. He 
appeared at Newbern as a Dele- 
gate from Granville to the first 
Assembly held in defiance of the 
royal authority in August, 1774, 
of which that noble patriot, John 
Having provided dormitories ! Harvey, was moderator. He was 
for sheltering the students and ; one of the thirteen Council of Safe- 
food for their bodily sustenance, ty which was the supreme Provi- 
and hallsfor their mental instruc- sional Government,after the endof 
tion, the Trustees next addressed j the Royal authority. He assisted 
themselves for provision for the ; in 1776, as a member of the 
religious and moral training. Congress at Halifax, in forming 
The old ante-Revolutionary our State constitution, in which 



taken for a lunatic or a harlequin 
in such costume now." 

I challenge Mr. Chief Manager 
Roberts to produce a dress as 
gorgeous as this on any student of 
the Ball of 1883. 

PERSON HALL — THE OLD CHAPEL. 



8 



History of the Buildings of the 



alone of all others was a provision 
requiring the establishment of a 
University. He was the first 
Brigadier General of the District 
of Hillsboro. He was among 
the band of forty of the greatest 
men the State had in 1789 — the 
first Board of Trustees of -the 
University, among whom were 
six Governors, eight Judges, of 
whom two were Judges of the 
Supreme Court of the United 
States, fifteen members of Con- 
gress, of whom three were Sena- 
tors, besides able men like 
Archibald Maclaine, Frederick 
Hargett, Stephen Cabarrus, Wm. 
Lenoir, Joel Lane, John Hay- 
wood, Joseph McDowell, Joseph 
Graham, and others, who were 
great in war, or as trusted officers 
or legislators of our State, or in 
the pursuits of private life. With 
these Person was a fit associate. 
As Senator from Granville he 
gave his vote for the new institu- 
tion. He did more. He put his 
hand into his pocket. He pulled 
out and dropped into its treasury 
shining gold. In grateful memory 
of his services to the State the 
General Assembly gave his name 
to a gallant little county carved 
out of old Orange. In gratitude 
for his generous gift the Trustees 
called the new Chapel after him — 
Person Hall — or as it still appears 
on the diplomas, Aiila Personica. 
In this Hall our ancestors 
worshipped for nearly fifty years. 



On its platform verdant Freshmen 
and sapient Sophomores and 
dignified Juniors spouted about 
" They tell us, sir, that we are 
weak," and " Blind old Bard of 
Scio's Rocky Isle," and " Boys 
standing on Burning Decks," and 
" Lindens when the Sun was low," 
and on grand Commencement 
occasions " most potent, grave 
and reverend Seniors made Latin 
Salutatories, in which every allu- 
sion to ''fornwsissUnce puelloe Sep- 
tentrionalis Carolinnce,'' (all the 
Latin the boys understood), was 
greeted with tumultuous applause, 
delivered valedictories loaded 
with mournful farewells, and 
dissertations in Literature, Science 
and History, worthy to live 
forever — or at any rate to fill the 
pages of a University Monthly. 

Although this building is named 
Person Hall, yet, because of its 
use as a church on Sundays and 
for morning and evening prayers, 
it gained the name of " the Chap- 
el," and when Gerrard Hall was 
built, the former was called and 
is so known to this day by old 
students as " the Old Chapel." I 
have heard recent students speak 
of Physics Hall, but that is a 
desecration. " Throw Physic(s) 
to the dogs". I would as soon 
steal the old General's monument 
and convert it into a door-step, 
as purloin his name from his 
building. So whenever a visitor 
asks you where is Dr. Venable's 



University of North Carolina. 



Industrial Museum, which he has after losses from the neg-lect and 



collected and arranged with such 
intelligent skill, carry him straight 
to PERSON HALL. 
GERRARD hall — NEW CHAPEL. 
A larger Hall was needed for the 
growing institution. The build- 
ing where we now are assembled 
was begun in 1822. It was called 
after another Revolutionary hero 
— not a bachelor, but childless. 
He was a native of Carteret, but 
long a resident of Edgecombe, 
Major Chas. Gerrard. He served 
in the war of the Revolution from 
the beginning to the end. As a 



perfidy of agents and the oner- 
ous charges of high taxes, while 
the black cloud of debt hunsr 
over the institution, they con- 
cluded with sorrow to authorize 
its sale. Two of their ablest 
lawyers, Gaston & Badger, after 
examination reported the follow- 
ing resolution, 

"Whereas, The Trustees of 
the University of North Carolina 
have been compelled to direct a 
sale of a valuable tract of land, 
bequeathed by Major Charles 
Gerrard, with the request that the 



soldier he was "brave, active and h""™^ ^'^^^ ^^ perpetually re 



persevering." His character as a 
citizen, husband, father, friend 
and neighbor was justly admired 
by all who knew him. His rank 
in the army (Lieutenant) entitled 
him to a grant of 2560 acres, 
which he located at the junction 
of Yellow Creek with Cumber- 
land river, not far below the city 
of Nashville. I hold in my hand 
the original grant, sealed with 
the great seal of the State. This 
tract, the fruit of his toil and suf- 
fering and blood, he regarded 
with peculiar affection, and when 
he bequeathed this, with some 10,- 
000 acres additional, which he had 
purchased, he requested in his 
will that it should perpetually re- 
main the property of the Uni- 



tained by the University,- and 

Whereas, They are solicitous 
not only to manifest their own 
sense of the liberality of the 
donor, but as far as" may be prac- 
ticable to perpetuate its remem- 
brance, 

Resolved, Therefore that $2,000, 
part of the purchase money of 
said land shall be applied to the 
finishing of the new Hall at the 
Universit}'-, and that the same 
shall be called by the name of 
" Gerrard Hall." 

Five years afterwards this res- 
olution was carried into effect. I 
wish you to note particularly the 
spelling of the name of the old 
hero. The original will and the 
obituary notice in the AW/// 



versity. For 35 years the Trustees Carolina Journal, published at 
regarded this wish as sacred. I Halifax, by Hodge & Wills, Oct. 
But after this long experiment, j i6th, 1797, give the name Gerrard. 



lO 



History of the Buildings of the 



Judges Gaston and Badger in their 
resolution have the same spelling, 
which I am particular about, 
because unfortunate carelessness 
has often confounded our benefac- 
tor's name with that of Stephen 
Girard, the benefactor of Phila- 
delphia. I am quite sure that in 
every respect, except in wealth 
and money making cunning our 
gallant lieutenant of the Revolu- 
tion was vastly the superior of 
the Philadelphia trader. 

I witnessed once in this Hall 
one of those exhibitions of uncon- 
trolable, unreasoning fright, which 
sometimes happen to crowds and 
which the ancients attributed to 
temporary madness, inspired by 
the God, Pan. A cry was raised 
" the Gallery is falling ! " There 
was a rush of the crowd amid 
screams of terror. There was 
for a moment imminent danger 
of trampling to death in the nar- 
row stair-cases. I recall vividly 
how firm and severe was the atti- 
tude of President Swain, of More- 
head, Graham, Battle, and other 
Trustees, who sat on the rostrum. 
There was no serious damage 
done. Some gallant young men, 
who were on the outside, display- 
ed their heroism by catching in 
their arms the frightened damsels 
leaping from the windows, but I 
heard no complaints on either 
side. A $ioo reward offered on 
the spot failed to detect the giver 
of the false alarm. 



An architect's examination 
proved that not Sampson, in all 
his long-haired glory, could have ~ 
pulled down the galleries, even if 
they were loaded with bad Philis- 
tines, instead of good North 
Carolinians, but still additional 
pillars were inserted and other 
alterations made to give public 
confidence and afford larger room. 

When this Hall was built it was 
intended to have a broad avenue 
running along the Southern 
wall. East and West. Hence 
the porch on the South side of 
the building. The merchants of 
the village claimed that this 
would injure their trade by 
diverting travel from Franklin 
Street, and the plan was abandon- 
ed to the mystification of all who 
do not know this veracious history. 

THE SOUTH BUILDING. 

We will now return to what we 
call the South, but what was 
known for many years as the 
" Main" Building, the old plan of 
grand structure to face the East, 
just as the capitols at Washing- 
ton and Raleigh, were faced un- 
der the influence of orientalization 
was soon abandoned, and the 
European plan of a quadrangle — 
in old times a veritable prison in 
which the students were locked 
at night, giving rise to the ex- 
pression " being in quad," was 
adopted, probably at the sugges- 
tion of Dr. Caldwell and Prof. 



University of North Carolina. 



ri 



Harris, who were educated at 
Princeton. Its corner stone was 
laid in 1798. Its walls reached 
the height of a story and a half, 
and then remained roofless for 
years. Dr. Wm. Hooper in his 
" 50 Years Since," a most interest- 
ing and amusing production, tells 
how the students of that day 
packed in the East Building four 
in a room, built cabins in the 
corner of the South in order to 
secure greater privacy for devo- 
tion to their books, and how, " as 
soon as spring brought back the 
swallows and the leaves, they 
emerged from their den and chose 
some shady retirement, where 
they made a path and a prome- 
nade," like the Peripatetics of 
ancient Greece. He states more- 
over, what sounds strange to us, 
that holidays were sometimes 
given for the curious reason that 
the inclemency of the weather 
prevented study. 

To finish this building was the 
great problem of the young 
University. The Trustees in 
despair did not hesitate to prac- 
tice what was common in old 
time, even for building churches 
and denominational schools, but 
which the sounder morals of our 
day make a criminal offence, the 
raising of money by lotteries. I 
have their circular of 1802, an- 
nouncing with sanctimonious 
gravity that " the interests of the 
University of North Carolina and 



of learning and science generally, 
are concerned in the immediate 
sale of these tickets." The high- 
est price was $1,500, and was 
drawn by Gen. Lawrence Baker, 
of Gates. The lucky number, 
1138, was announced as an im- 
portant item by the Metropolitan 
Journal, the Raleigh Register. 

Still the building was unfinished, 
and still the intellectual squatters 
of the University sat stib divo, as 
the Professor of Latin would say. 
President Caldwell mounted with 
heroic energy his stick-back gig 
and painfully traveled over ^he 
State in 1809, and again in 1811, 
soliciting subscriptions. 

It would be interesting to con- 
trast his journeys with those of 
the present day, when one can 
dine in Goldsboro and breakfast 
next morning in Asheville. The 
battle of New Orleans occurred 
on the 8th January, 181 5. The 
news did not reach Raleigh until 
the 17th of February. Prof. 
Charles W. Harris writes in 1795 
to Dr. Caldwell, at Princeton, that 
his best way of reaching Chapel 
Hill is to buy a horse and sulky 
and thus travel in his own con- 
veyance, selling the same at 
Chapel Hill. He is confident 
that the trip can be made in thirty 
days. Last week the President 
of 1883 left New York at a quar- 
ter before four o'clock in the af- 
ternoon, in a luxurious coach, 
which ran so smoothly that read- 



12 



History of the Buildings of the 



ing- and even writing was easy, 
so well lighted at night that he 
read with comfort and pleasure 
Anthony Trollope's most inter- 
esting Autobiography until bed- 
time at Washington, then went 
regularly to bed, had a refreshing 
night's rest, and dined next day 
at a quarter before two in the 
afternoon at home — less than 
twenty-tzvo hours. It was doubt- 
less the achings and weariness of 
the flesh of these journeys which 
caused Dr. Caldwell 20 years 
after to astonish the State by his 
elotjuent and practical Carlton 
letters, advocating the N. C. 
Rail Road from the Tennessee 
line to Beaufort. His labors were 
successful. He secured about 
$12,000, and while our people 
were going crazy over the naval 
victories of 1 8 14 the rejoicing 
students moved into the com- 
pleted "South Building." The 
cornerstone was laid the year when 
the great Napoleon gained the first 
victory of the Pyramids, the year 
before he usurped the power of 
1st Consul; it was finished the 
year when he laid down the im- 
perial title for a petty throne in 
Elba, the year before his final 
ruin at Waterloo. When that 
corner stone was laid the land 
was ringing with preparations for 
a war with France. The building 
was ready for occupancy while we 
Were fighting England. It has 
lately sheltered cavalry of the 



conquering Union army in the 
great civil war. 

It was one of the grandest 
buildings in North Carolina in 
those days. It afforded ample 
recitation rooms. It furnished 
for a third of a century halls 
and libraries for the two so- 
cieties, which before its erec- 
tion were forced to meet by 
turns in Person Hall. I have 
thought that it should have been 
called in honor of the Father of 
the University, Gen. Davie. The 
omission thus to recognize his 
great services has been rectified 
by the happy thought of a gifted 
lady, on whom the Muses of His- 
tory and Poesy have benignly 
breathed, Mrs. C. P. Spencer, by 
calling the historical tree which 
sheltered the venerable men, who 
under its shade located the site 
of the University, which in spite 
of a century's storms and the 
fierce assault of the thunderbolt, 
still rears its majestic head above 
the neighboring oaks, the Davie 
Poplar. 

SMITH HALL. 

In 1852 the Trustees did tardy 
honor to the first benefactors of 
the University. The charter was 
granted in 1789. The first meet- 
ing of the Board was held in 
1790 at the flourishing town of 
Fayetteville. The President of 
the Board was a King's Mountain 
hero. Gen. Wm. Lenoir, who has 
given his name to a county and a 



University of North Carolina. 



13 



town of our State — the last sur- 
vivor of this illustrious forty — 
dying in 1 839 at the age of 88. Gen. 
Benjamin Smith, of Brunswick, 
then a member, made the first 
donation for the cause of higher 
education in North Carolina. He 
gladened the hearts of all present 
by the gift of 20,000 acres of 
land in Tennessee. It is true 
they were not immediately avail- 
able. They were afterwards 
surrendered to the Chickasaws 
add subsequently repurchased by 
the Government. It was forty 
years before they were made 
available. They were ultimately 
sold for $14,000, after being 
shaken up by the greatest earth- 
quake, which has afflicted 
America since its discovery, into 
lakes and hills. The proceeds 
went into the endowment and 
was swallowed up by the great 
civil war, which with more terrible 
voracity than a hundred earth- 
quakes engulphed so much of the 
wealth and population of the 
Southern coimtry. 

Benjamin Smith was a man of 
mark. He was in youth an aide- 
de-camp of Washington in the 
disastrous defeat of Long Island. 
He was conspicuous for his gal- 
lantry under Moultrie. By his 
fiery eloquence the militia of 
Brunswick volunteered to serve 
under him in the threatened war 
against France. He was fifteen 
times Senator from Brunswick. 



He was chosen Governor in 1810. 
His county called its capital, 
Smithville, in his honor. His 
name survives too in the bleak • 
and stormy island at the mouth 
of the Cape Fear. The land he 
gave us, as was also the land of 
Gerrard, was won by valor 
and blood in the war for 
freedom. Their sacrifices were 
not useless. Their monuments 
are far more enduring than brass 
or marble. Centuries will come 
and go. Families will grow 
great and be extinguished. For- 
tunes will be made and lost. 
Offices will be struggled for and 
ambitious hopes realized, but the 
names of the victors will 
vanish as if written on the sands 
of the sea shore. Reputations 
blazing in pulpit, or forum, and 
senate chamber will fade as rap- 
idly as the meteor's path. But 
the blessings of the gifts of 
Person, Gerrard and Smith will 
never cease. For nearly a century 
they have planted learning and 
sound principles in the minds of 
men over all our Southern land. 
In all the ages to come their 
work will go on. The thousand 
young men, who will have their 
mental panoply supplied from the 
University armory to engage in 
life's varied conflicts, will hold their 
names in honor. As long as the 
University lasts they will never 
be forgotten, and the University 
zvill last foj-ever! 



H 



History of the Buildings of the 



NEW EAST — NEW WEST. 



I will say only a few words of 
the New East and New West 
buildings. Prior to 1850 the 
highest number of students was 
170. After the discovery of the 
California gold mines, and conse- 
quent increase in the supply of 
the circulating medium, there 
ensued wonderfully prosperous 
times for all the world, and espe- 
cially for our Southern States. 
The old North Carolina families 
who had carried their lures and 
penates into the fertile regions of 
the South-west sent back their 
sons to their native State for 
education. Students swarmed 
into the University. They over- 
flowed the old buildings and were 
camped in little cottages all over 
the town from Couchtown to 
Craig's. In 1858 there were as 
many as 456, of whom 178 
were from other States than 
North Carolina. The New East 
and New West were built for 
their accommodation, finished in 
1859. The two societies aided in 
a considerable degree in the 
construction and adornment of 
their beautiful Halls and library 
rooms. Probably no Societies in 
America have superior accommo- 
dations in these respects, and I 
am bound to say that in 
my opinion no Societies by 
intelligent and honest devotion 
to the purposes of their creation 



better deserve them, 
they flourish. 



Lonj 



may 



MEMORIAL HALL. 

We come at last to the Me- 
morial Hall, which though about 
to take a winter nap, will in the 
spring, we hope, rise rapidly in 
all its harmony and grandeur. I 
have already explained to the 
students that a miscalculation as 
to the cost was made by the 
architect, and hence a delay 
is necessary in order to replenish 
our Treasury. I desire it to 
be understood that very ex- 
perienced builders think that the 
work ought to be stopped for a 
while in order to allow the tim- 
bers to dry. They are green as 
yet, and greenness is a fault in 
architectural as well as intellectual 
timbers. After being securely 
covered so that the rain and snow 
shall not reach them, the great 
rafters will by the end of winter 
shrink to their final dimensions 
and support their majestic roof 
with no warpings or distortions. 

Such a Hall is necessary, in 
order to enable us to accommo- 
date our visitors — the people of 
North Carolina. We have gained 
much odium by turning from our 
door the good citizens, who made 
long journeys in order to hear the 
eloquence of our Representatives 
and Graduates. Every person, 
rich and poor, who desires, should 
have, and shall have a comforta- 



University of North Carolina. 



15 



ble seat during our Commence- 
ment exercises. 

This Hall will supply all our 
needs. It will hold 2450 seated 
without crowding, and if needed 
4000 can be pleasantly cared for 
by utilizing the aisles. You can 
gain a vivid idea of its proportions 
by noting that the New West 
Building can be placed in it, cen- 
tre to centre, and whirled around 
without touching its walls. 

It will be a Memorial Hall, not 
alone of my predecessor, who so 
long and so ably presided over 
this institution. Gov. Swain, but 
of all the departed good and 
great — Trustees, Professors, Alu- 
mini — who have aided and hon- 
ored the University. It will be a 
Memorial of those gallant Alumni 



who, at the call of our State, gave 
up their lives in the great civil 
war. Though God gave them 
not the victory, and though we 
will not question the wisdom of the 
decision of the All-Wise, yet we 
must always honor the courage, 
the devotion to duty, the high 
resolve and the willing sacrifice 
of our Confederate Dead. 

I close by declaring, with no 
idle boast, that it is the purpose of 
the authorities of the University 
to continue to work for new 
buildings and new apparatus and 
new books until, by the blessing 
of God, in every essential respect 
the children of North Carolina 
shall have equal advantages with 
the children of any other State 
in this Union. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ 



028 356 500 2 




